My Wife's Baby

by Niomie Roland

  In addition to having dark rings around them, her eyes were puffy. She looked terrible. That meant that she would have to apply a serious layer of make-up to look presentable before leaving the house. Alana was not a vain person, so her make-up was always light. This morning however things would be different.

  After getting Aaryn up and getting her ready she spent a good deal of time in front of the mirror making herself look presentable. By then, Fred had called twenty times. He did his calling at roughly one-hour intervals. The first had been once. But the next was a flurry of eight calls that assaulted her phone as she took her bath. Then while she made hot dog for Aaryn and herself the next round came. There were six calls this time. He gave her a short break, then got back to it after she had gotten Aaryn ready and had worked wonders on her face with just her brush and mascara.

  He hit her with nine straight calls while she went downstairs with Aaryn and got into the car. The calls continued until she was out of the house and down the street, on the way to the day care center. However, they stopped before she got there.

  There was no need to answer the calls. At this point she was considering blocking his number. He would only chide her for missing her appointment even after he called to remind her. She was not in the mood to receive lectures this morning. All she felt like doing was sleeping in and crying her heart out until there were no more tears to be shed. But the tears had already dried up and there was still much work waiting for her attention at the office. In a day, her vacation would start. Hallelujah. All her records had to be up to date before she could go, though.

  The thought of the vacation hit her in the gut like a giant ball of ice. She and Brad had not decided where they were going this year. She didn’t even know if they were going to spend it together.

  When the twenty-fifth call came in, she realized that it had to be something more serious than a mere checkup. She answered the call and listened, not really knowing what to expect.

  “My God Alana, where do you keep your phone?” Fred asked.

  Alana took that opportunity and delivered a quick lie. “Oh I left it downstairs last night. I forgot to bring it up.”

  “I’ve been calling since morning,” Fred grumbled.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just now seeing your calls.” He didn’t need to know that she was ignoring his calls.

  “You need to come and see me at once.”

  “My teeth are fine.”

  “Alana come on, you are not the doctor here.”

  Alana sighed in defeat. “Okay-okay. I’ll come in after work today.”

  “No. I need you to come in now.”

  “Now?”

  “Now, please.”

  There was a note of desperation in his voice. Alana thought of asking him if there was something else he wanted to see her about, but she decided not to. She would soon find out.

  “Okay. I’ll be on my way soon.”

  “Um…please don’t come to the office,” Fred said. “I’ll be at that park close to Russo’s.”

  “Okay. Why?”

  “Just come please. I’ll explain. Come now please.”

  Her phone beeped to signal that the call had been ended. Alana brought the phone down from her ears in puzzlement. It was obvious now that this meeting was not about her tooth. She wondered what it could be about.

  On some level she welcomed the meeting. It was a distraction from the present state of her mind and an excuse to come in late today.

  She started her car and drove off in the direction of the park.

  ***

  Fred was not at the park when she got there. She sat on one of the benches waiting and wishing she had brought cookies with her, or her headphones to play music.

  While she waited, she focused on the few people around her. There was a man who appeared to be homeless sleeping on one of the benches on the other side. A father and his daughter were running down the path laughing happily. Then there was a pregnant woman who was tearing and scattering bread on the floor for the pigeons flocking around her.

  A gentle breeze blew and played with the woman’s hair and her gown. Alana found herself wishing she had hair as long as the woman’s, something that could reach her back or even her waist if she let it down.

  She began to call Fred after ten minutes. After three unanswered calls, she got up and made her way back to her car. The next destination would be his office.

  ***

  The drive to the dental clinic took ten minutes.

  When Alana got there, she experienced the familiar jitters.

  “Calm down,” she whispered to herself as she walked into the reception room. This was no longer that horror age of pliers and bloodied chairs and floors with the smell of whiskey. This was the age of luxury vinyl flooring and neutral and cool colors that created an atmosphere of warmth.

  Fred Luther’s office was just that and even more. The place was squeaky clean, and the chairs were so comfortable you could forget the dangers your teeth were in and the flowers provided enough warmth. The bulletin board that was stacked with thank you letters gave you the impression that you were in good hands. Alana’s own was there, at the very top, spaced out from the others. A first look at it was enough to convince anyone that the poster valued it above the others. It made Alana chuckle as she read it again.

  Thank you Dr. Luther, for taking care of my teeth. I feel way better now than I did before today.

  There was nobody in the reception room presently. The dopey eyed receptionist was sitting on one of the chairs reading one of the magazines that lay on the side stools.

  “Hey Daisy,” Alana forced her tone to sound cheery.

  Daisy lived down the street and was always nice to her. The girl liked to think that they were some sort of gossip mates and so whenever they met, she endeavored to favor Alana with snippets of gossip she had come by during the week.

  “Hey Alana!” she rose to her feet. “Are you here to see Dr. Luther?”

  “Yep.”

  Something was wrong. The usual smile was not on Daisy’s face.

  “Um… I shouldn’t be telling you this but…” Daisy cast frightened glances around the empty room as if there was somebody lurking behind one of the chairs, eavesdropping. “The police arrested him this morning.”

  “What?” Alana was shocked. “For what?”

  “They didn’t even show us any courtesy,” Daisy’s forlorn expression was confusing.

  “What did he do?”

  Fred was a harmless creature. He could never hurt a fly. Alana could not for the life of her think up any reason why the police might arrest him.

  “They just swaggered in as if they owned the place and asked me to go and bring him out,” Daisy shrugged. “What could I do? I didn’t want to be accused of obstructing a police investigation. So I went in and called him out.”

  “What did they charge him with?”

  “Do you know that right in front of everybody waiting here to see him, they threw handcuffs on him and recited some bullshit about rape.”

  “Rape? They charged him with rape?”

  “God, yes. Now I think of it, I shouldn’t have brought him out.” Daisy’s hand went up to her chest. Her chest was almost as flat as the wall behind her. “I should have told him to get away through the back door. Those bastards.”

  “Rape? Fred? That’s ridiculous; it’s probably a misunderstanding,” Alana protested.

  “Same thing I said.”

  “Where’s Dr. Kent?” Alana asked.

  Doctor Kent was the other doctor who ran the office with Fred.

  “He hasn’t come in.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess he’s scared.”

  “Scared of what?”

  “Of being arrested.”

  “Does he know Fred’s with the police?”

  “Oh yeah. I called him and told him Dr. Luther was taken by those uniformed animals and he just went all oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit on me. The shit was so long that at some poi
nt I feared they would actually start dripping out his mouth. That man has a dirty mouth.”

  “Hmm.”

  Alana was puzzled.

  29

  Johnson asked to see her the moment she got in that morning. Alana gritted her teeth when the receptionist passed the message to her. She stomped upstairs to his office with a scowl on her face, ready to fry him if he mentioned Rhea or Brad or her mother.

  He didn’t mention any of them. He welcomed her with a hug when she entered his office and took her to the sofa where she sat down gratefully. Every new day found her in the clutches of fatigue that was even more acute than the previous days. Getting any sleep at night was difficult without having Brad to cuddle her. Every chance to sit down was welcome.

  “What’s up?” she asked as Johnson settled down beside her. Concern was written all over his face. It was disquieting.

  “The police came here this morning,” he said.

  Her heart skipped a beat. “The police? What did they want?”

  “They were asking for you.”

  “For me?”

  “Yes.”

  “For what?”

  Alana couldn’t for the life of her imagine that she was in any sort of trouble. She had never done anything illegal in all of her life. She hadn’t even taken a puff of pot in college. And apart for the few times she drove above the speed limit she had never had any reason to fear the approach of a police patrol car.

  “They say that they need to talk with you about a case they are handling.” Johnson placed a hand on her shoulder. “Nothing serious.”

  “A case they are handling?”

  “Yes. They said it’s nothing serious.”

  Fred Luther came into her mind at that moment.

  “Nothing serious,” she smirked.

  “What’s up?” Johnson asked.

  “Fred was arrested this morning,” Alana told him, “Now I’m wondering if this has something to do with it.”

  “Fred… who is he?”

  “My dentist.”

  “Oh. What did he do?”

  “Rape.”

  “Ouch.”

  “That’s what his receptionist said. I don’t know if it’s true or not.” Alana shook her head. “Fred is not that kind of person.”

  “People always have surprises up their sleeves, Sis.”

  “Not this type, not this guy. He’s a lamb.”

  “Uh-huh. So… everything is okay then?” Johnson relaxed.

  “If you are asking if I pinched someone’s pen or a friend’s bra, I didn’t,” Alana giggled. “I’m clean, Bro.”

  Johnson laughed and pushed her gently, “You better be.” He got up from the sofa. “They said they will come to your place this evening.”

  “Now I’m more intrigued. Why would they need to come to my home?”

  “Should we call the lawyer?”

  The lawyer was Brad, and the last time he had handled any legal matter had been months ago, so she didn’t answer the question.

  “I mean, you can get a lawyer or something,” Johnson said hastily.

  “I’ll be fine.” Alana got to her feet. “You said it’s nothing serious right?”

  “Right. It’s just, you know how they are.”

  “Yeah I know. If things begin to get out of hand, I’ll kick them out of the house. I still have rights.”

  “Good.”

  She started to leave.

  “I could come if you want me to,” Johnson said.

  She turned with a smile. “No need. But thanks all the same.”

  Brad was home now. He would give her all the support she needed. She would call him before leaving for home.

  30

  The cops were already at the house when she got back.

  She saw their car parked close to the driveway when she rounded the bend and entered the street. Behind her Aaryn was dancing in her seat to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”, which was blaring from the stereo. Her dancing was basically a poorly coordinated shaking of her body that came nowhere close enough to matching the rhythm of the song. Rhea laid buckled in the carrier, wide eyed and flailing her arms and legs.

  Behind her car, Brad tailed them in his Mercedes Benz. She went past the patrol car and drove up the driveway. Brad parked out in the street, behind the police car. She would leave him to deal with them while she got Aaryn and Rhea settled.

  “Come on baby,” Alana unbuckled her seat belt and that of Aaryn’s and came out of the car. She then went to unbuckle Rhea’s carrier, who was getting almost too heavy for Alana alone to manage. Aaryn was hitting her window and laughing when she went around to open the door for her.

  Alana didn’t look back as she walked up to her front door with her baby carrier in one hand and Aaryn in the other.

  ***

  They were two officers, a male and a female when she emerged from upstairs. The man was the potbellied type with a clean-shaven face and a lot of smiles. The type where you had nothing to fear. The woman was a Latina, also with an easy smile that revealed her perfectly arranged teeth.

  Pot belly was Samuel Weis while Latina was Juan Roberta.

  “Mrs. Saunders,” Roberta said. “We are going to ask you some pretty personal questions. We don’t think your husband’s presence is necessary.”

  Beside her, Brad gave the woman a chilly look.

  “It’s okay,” Alana said and shimmied closer to him. “I want him here.”

  “Alright. Do you know this man?”

  Weis passed her an enlarged photo of Fred Luther. He held a small notepad and a pen and watched her reaction closely.

  Brad also came closer to get a better view.

  “Yes, he’s my dentist.” Alana said. “Fred. What about him?”

  “What’s your relationship with him?”

  “I don’t understand, I told you he’s my dentist.”

  “I meant, is the relationship between you two strictly professional, you know, a doctor-patient relationship or is it more than that?”

  “Err… he is also my husband’s friend,” Alana turned to look at Brad. “That makes him my friend too right?”

  “He’s our friend,” he responded, then shrugged.

  “Do you see him as a friend?” Roberta asked.

  “Yes I guess,” Alana was not sure how to answer.

  “What kind of friend?”

  “What do you mean what kind of friend?” Brad asked getting irritated.

  Roberta asked. “Let me ask plainly. Are you having sexual relations with him?”

  “What? No!” Alana waved her left her in front of Roberta which displayed her wedding band and engagement ring.

  “I know ma’am. I’m sorry if the question seems offensive,” Roberta apologized, “however, it is important that you answer the questions truthfully. Have you ever had any sexual relationships with Dr. Fred Luther?”

  It took a lot of effort for Alana to stop herself from cussing her out. “No I haven’t, not ever,” she responded simply.

  She looked over too Brad’s direction and his face was a stony mask. She wondered what he was thinking.

  “Have you ever discussed it with him, maybe giving him a subtle indication that you would like to?”

  “No!” She exclaimed. Appalled at the line of questioning. She took deep breaths and then continued, “Okay, I need to know where you going with all these questions?”

  “You will know soon enough please. I have just one more question.”

  Alana waited for it while she fumed silently. She didn’t even want to look at Brad. Who knew what he would be thinking now? Maybe she shouldn’t have asked that he be present. Okay. It wasn’t a case of maybe. She shouldn’t have requested his presence.

  “When was the last time you were in Dr. Fred Luther’s consulting room?” Roberta asked.

  “Um…, over a year ago.” Alana closed her eyes as she tried to recall the date. “It was the last Thursday in October, I remember because my daughter had a ballet recital that same day a
nd I almost missed my appointment.”

  The two officers looked at themselves and Weis nodded at Roberta. She turned back to Alana. “We suspect that Dr. Fred Luther may have assaulted you in his consulting room.”

  “What? No that’s not possible.”

  The claim was ridiculous. All she had done was go in and have her teeth removed. But she had been anaesthetized. She had been out for the entire duration of the tooth removal process.

  “We have a video recording of him having sexual intercourse with you,” Roberta said. “From the video, it’s apparent that you are unconscious.”

  “What! You mean rape?” The room started to spin. Alana closed her eyes. “Oh my God!”

  “That bastard!” Brad growled as he pulled her closer. “I’ll kill him!”

  “We understand you’re angry but threatening his life won’t help matters. He’s already in our custody sir!”

  “Alana is not the only victim of Dr. Luther’s nefarious activities. There are a couple of other women,” Weis said. “The craziest thing about this whole situation is that he films it all.”

  “How did you get the video?” Brad all but demanded.

  “An anonymous person sent it to us.”

  “We think it’s someone close to him who may have discovered it by accident,” Roberta said.

  “That bastard, if I ever get my hands on…” Suddenly remembering who he was in the presence of, he clumped his mouth shut. A sinister thought instantly came to his mind. Brad had defended many criminals who owed him a favor or two. He knew what he’d do. Fred’s days were numbered.

  Brad’s hands were balled into fists. Only God knew what he would have done to Fred if the animal was there.

  “Oh my God,” Alana cried, “He is Rhea’s father.”

  “No he isn’t. I am Rhea’s father!” Brad said this with so much conviction that Alana couldn’t stop herself from crying even more. She was disgusted at imagining what Fred may have done to her. She rushed to the bathroom to throw up.